Tuesday, May 24, 2016

12 Incredible Buddhist Quotes for Overcoming Illness ~ Please share

For any of you who are facing illness - this should raise your spirits!

The person who originally compiled these quotes

was able to use this practice and modern medicine

to overcome breast cancer completely.

Please feel free to forward the link to this post

to anyone who is suffering from illness.

From President Ikeda's Lecture series "The Hope-filled Teachings of Nichiren Daishonin: On Prolonging One's Life Span - Faith for Leading a Long and healthy Life" in the July-August 08 Living Buddhism. (Thank you to my friend Melissa Bradford for compiling these great quotes!)1. “Suffering from illness is a means by which you can eradicate your negative karma.” President Toda, as quoted by President Ikeda. - pg 70 2. “To see illness as an opportunity to transform our karma – this strong spirit and resolve can break through all obstacles and devilish functions and open wide the path to happiness. Like a rocket blasting out of the earth’s atmosphere, the passionate conviction of faith that comes from viewing illness as an opportunity to transform our karma can become a powerful engine propelling us forward not only in this existence but throughout eternity, enabling us to freely savor everlasting happiness.” Pg 743. “Becoming ill in itself is certainly not a sign of defeat. Even the Buddha, who is said to have ‘few ills and few worries’ (LS, 214), struggles with sickness from time to time. Accordingly, there will be times when we are confronted with illness. The important point above all is not to be defeated mentally or emotionally by the prospect of being ill. Faith is the source of the fighting spirit to stand up to illness. Therefore, as we noted earlier, Nichiren Daishonin first of all talks about the ‘treasure of faith’. Pg 774. “As Nichiren says, ‘Illness gives rise to the resolve to attain the way’ (The Good Medicine for All Ills, WND-1, 937). If a practitioner who upholds faith in the Mystic Law becomes ill, it definitely has some profound meaning. It could be said that confronting illness is one route to awakening to the eternity of life. President Toda often said, ‘A person who has overcome a major illness knows how to deeply savor life.’” Pg785. From Matilda Buck’s guidance, World Tribune 4/27/01 pg 10 “When We Face Disappointment” – regarding SGI leaders who overcame cancer and chanted this way: Through this experience, I will become someone who does not doubt the Gohonzon (my life), no matter what happens.As a Bodhisattva of the Earth, I have the mission to experience this, and as a Bodhisattva of the Earth, I have the mission to create a victory.I will share the power of Buddhism with others, even as I grapple with this experience.I won’t let my spirits stay down. I won’t make a place in my life for negativity to settle.6.From The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra Volume 6: “Praying with doubt is like trying to keep water in a bathtub with the plug pulled. Our good fortune and benefit will drain away. A passage from the ‘Perceiver of the World’s Sounds’ chapter reads, ‘from thought to thought never entertaining doubt!’ A confident prayer will reverberate powerfully throughout the entire universe.” Pg 88From Buddhism Day by Day:7. “Buddhism views illness as an opportunity to attain a higher, nobler state of life. It teaches that, instead of agonizing over a serious disease, or despairing of ever overcoming it, we should use illness as a means to build a strong, compassionate self, which in turn will make it possible for us to be truly victorious.” pg 3008. “The expansive world lies not in some distant place; it exists right where you are. That is why you need to win where you are right now. Today’s victory is linked to your eternal victory.” Page 3149, “No matter what the circumstances, you should never concede defeat. Never conclude that you’ve reached a dead end, that everything is finished. You possess a glorious future. And precisely because of that, you must persevere and study. Life is eternal. We need to focus on the two existences of the present and the future and not get caught up in the past. We must always have the spirit to begin anew ‘from this moment,’ to initiate a new struggle each day.” Pg 31510. “The air around us is filled with radio waves of various frequencies. While these are invisible, a television set can collect them and turn them into visible images. The practice of chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo aligns the rhythm of our own lives with the world of Buddhahood in the universe. It ‘tunes’ our lives, so to speak, so that we can manifest the power of Buddhahood in our very beings.” Pg 314

11. From For Today and Tomorrow Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda: Sept 20 pg 288: When your determination changes, everything else will begin to move in the direction you desire. The moment you resolve to be victorious, every nerve and fiber in your being will immediately orient itself toward your success. On the other hand, if you think “This is never going to work out,” then at that instant every cell in your being will be deflated and give up the fight, and then everything really will move in the direction of failure.12. Aug 15 pg 249: The first thing is to pray. From the moment we begin to pray, things start moving. The darker the night, the closer the dawn. From the moment we chant daimoku with a deep and powerful resolve, the sun begins to rise in our hearts. Hope – prayer is the sun of hope. To chant daimoku each time we face a problem, overcoming it and elevating our life-condition as a result – this is the path of “changing earthly desires into enlightenment,” taught in Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism.

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Welcome!

This blog is about Happiness.

Absolute Happiness.

Unshakable Happiness.

Welcome!

In my 33 years of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (I fuse my life with the Mystic Law of cause and effect through sound vibration) I have faced and overcome many challenges. Heartbreak, job challenges, divorce, and in 2015 my 22 year old son took his life after battling schizophrenia for three years. And through it all, I chanted to turn poison into medicine and to be happy - so that I could show others the way to happiness.

These blog posts come from my heart, to show the power of this practice. I speak only for myself, and don't represent anyone but me. I write this for you.

Feel free to email me if you'd like ~ but I do not give Buddhist guidance by email. I suggest that you get to know your local SGI Buddhist leaders who will give you support.

I love to hear your success stories and may publish them along with your picture.

This lifetime is so precious - and the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is unique. The first person to chant these words was Nichiren Daishonin, a Buddhist reformer. You can find out more about him, and more about this practice at SGI-USA.org.

The important point is this:

We don't have to suffer painful austerities or be reborn for many lifetimes to bring forth our own Buddhahood and attain absolute unshakable happiness.We can attain it right here...right now...just as we are.

There's no accident that you are reading this blog at this time.

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